Jan.29 - Day 3/Week 2/Lesson 2

Got up late but I was able to book the same instructor for another private session. I put on some rollerblade knee pads since the knees are still bruised from last session, and G-forms still have not arrived. Got a stomp pad as well. Did some traversing to warm up and showed him my turns so far. We headed to the development area for turn training. My problems are mostly related to not leaning forward enough. He also wanted more upper body rotation into the turns. The turns on the development area were uneventful and with decent form. So up the hill we go.

This run had a tow rope and it took 3 - 4 tries for me to get up on that Remainder of the lesson consisted of turns and I had perfect form on the toe to heel, but heel to toe was still coming along slowly. Still not leaning enough even though it was getting better. Ate a few including a spill on a banked turn. I think my rappel instincts related climbing are working against me here.

After lunch I worked on nothing but turns all day. Chairlift was now easy toe or heelside. The stomp pad probably helped. Or it could have just been a placebo. Skating feels more natural. The progress was come on slow until I visualized the speed skaterís leaning position at the start line for my heel to toe turns. It was actually easier to initiate the turn with more speed as it generates the momentum. But this was not very controlled. I was able to generate some good turns both sides for the last couple hours and can finally dodge all the falling/sitting people on the hill with easy.

Total hours spent:
1 hour lesson
3.5 hours practice

Falls/fatigue factor:
Lot of falls. But the most annoy thing came was straining my left leg while strapping in. Again very tired from trying all the different motions.